Design and fabrication of automatic seed sowing robot
In agriculture, there is a need for a technology that is more easily understood, implemented and used by the farmers. Equipment that requires less human effort and time with less cost of implementation is much required for success in the agricultural industry. Seed sowing robot is a device that help
2025-06-28 16:26:20 - Adil Khan
Design and fabrication of automatic seed sowing robot
Project Area of Specialization RoboticsProject SummaryIn agriculture, there is a need for a technology that is more easily understood, implemented and used by the farmers. Equipment that requires less human effort and time with less cost of implementation is much required for success in the agricultural industry. Seed sowing robot is a device that helps in the sowing of seeds in the desired position hence, assisting the farmers in saving time and money. Seed sowing is one of the main processes of farming activities. It requires a substantial amount of human efforts and also time-consuming. This project aims to design and fabrication of the smart seed sowing robot for the mentioned task. This smart seed sowing robot consists of a robotic platform to sow the seeds from the seeds container. There is a rack and pinion mechanism for precise and user-friendly placement of seeds at desired locations in the farm. The components of this smart seed sowing robot are designed in CAD software PTC Creo 8.0.
The robot is controlled through the mobile application to get the desired positions of the seed sowing platform. Once all of the positions are set, the aforementioned mechanism sows the seed automatically after the switching button is made ON. The wheels of the robot are also controlled through the mobile application. Thus, this system completely automates the seed sowing process using a smartly designed autonomous system. This robot reduces the efforts and the total cost of sowing the seeds. Seeds have been sowed in a proper sequence according to different rows and columns marked in the field which results in proper germination of seeds. This smart and automated sowing of seeds using a robot reduces the labor requirement and also reduces human ergonomics.
Project ObjectivesNowadays, demand for farming equipment which requires less human efforts and time are increasing day by day. In addition, due to the development of internet of things (IoT) and robotics farming equipment has also become smarter.
- Design and modeling of various components using a CAD package:
Initially, various dimensions of the smart seed sowing robots are assumed based on the different dimensional constraints of the robots. After considering various design aspects of the robot, different parts of the seed sowing robot are designed using CAD package PTC CREO 8.0. The appearance of the fabricated smart seed sowing machine was given utmost importance for more convincing and attractive. The design of this smart seed sowing robot is based on the different modules which include sensing device, actuator, and seed handling unit, microprocessor, stepper motors, servomotors, communication, and data processing unit.
2. Design Calculations:
The gear ratio of the stepper motor shaft and wheel is maintained so that the gear can withstand a greater torque whilst minimizing the errors. The gear ratio of 1:1 means that the engine and the transmission’s output rotate at the same speed.
3. Single seed discharger:
The release of the single seed from the hooper to hole made in the ground is done by the single seed discharger unit. This unit is connected with an air suction connection and is attached to low pressure generator that is held up to a grain discharger, where dropping sequence from grain to grain is controlled by rack and pinion mechanism, and the deposition distance from grain to grain is controlled.
This unit picks a single seed from the bulk seed coming down and places it in the desired place of the hole in the soil to avoid the congestion of the crop after development. This action is calibrated with the movement of the robot so that each hole will be sown by the single seed at the required sowing speed.
4) Lane tracking/Following:
Seed sowing in the particular hole and moving towards another hole is based on the line follower robots. In this study, this smart robot follows the lane of the different rows and columns of the field. For this purpose, two ultrasonic sensors were integrated on both sides of the smart robots. The stepper motor driver controls the motion of the robot according to the signal received from the controller.
5) Obstacle avoidance process:
To avoid the collision of the robot from the unwanted obstacle, ultrasonic sensors are used which is the prime need of any mobile robot. The ultrasonic sensor sends the signal to the objects falling on the way of the robot while sowing seed in the field, the sensor will record the distance between the obstacle and the robot. Consequently, the controller will stop the movement of the robot for further seed sowing.
Project Implementation MethodThis project aims to present the design, development, and fabrication of smart robot which significantly reduces the human efforts and time of seed sowing activities by the farmers. The designed and fabricated robot is controlled by the IoT system. The working principle is based on the motion of the stepper motors, dc motors, interfacing with the ultrasonic sensor, and a linear. All of the components of this smart seed sowing robot are designed and fabricated whilst using 3D printing technology and the use of IoT components. All the components were designed using CAD software PTC Creo 8.0. In addition, this project also aims at the state-of-the-art autonomous way of seed sowing in the field. The seeds have been sowed in a proper sequence according to different rows and columns marked in the field which results in proper germination of seeds. The motors that have been utilized in the project reflect efficient torque and speed needed to achieve the desired tasks correctly. Robot body is made after performing proper mathematical calculations. The farm (arena) is segregated in such a way so that there are proper lanes and proper sowing locations. The mobile application lets the user to get to know the current location of the robot and how much lanes have been covered so far.
Benefits of the ProjectThere are several benefits of this smart seed sowing robot as this project aims to present the state-of-the-art design, development, and fabrication of smart robot which significantly reduces the human efforts and time of seed sowing activities by the farmers. Additionally, this smart robot also reduces dependency on human resources in the agricultural sector and the wastage of seeds.
The designed and fabricated robot is controlled by the IoT system. This smart and automated sowing of seeds using a robot reduces the labor requirement and also reduces human ergonomics.
Additionally, this smart robot also reduces dependency on human resources in the agricultural sector and the wastage of seeds as the designed robot is controlled by the IoT system. There is a GUI which lets the user to fully control the robot in terms of its motion, seed ejection, and area covered by keep a precise track of the lanes in the farms. The robot is pretty user-friendly and portable.
This smart and automated sowing of seeds using a robot reduces the labor requirement and also reduces human ergonomics because autonomous control drives the user to keep an eye on the current progress of the robot and attaining all the necessary information coming from the sensors.
Its performance can be fruitfully utilized by extending it to an efficient weed controlling robot in the farms by incorporating image processing techniques. Furthermore, this robot helps to monitor environmental changes timely and soil analysis and the attained data is stored over cloud for further perusal.
The robot is pretty user-friendly and portable.
By the realization of the image processing techniques and camera interfacing, this project can be extended to weed detection in the farms and this may lead to help the international economy as well.
Technical Details of Final DeliverableAutomatic seed sowing robot that uses custom Atmega 328 PCB operates on 20 MHz clock frequency. To drive the robot, we are using 32kg-cm high torque gear motors driven by 2 x VNH3SP30 motor drivers along with one servo for seed container and bi-polar stepper motor for planting the seed with the help of rack and pinion mechanism. Robot motion and seed sowing is controlled with the help of a smartphone connected through HC-05 blue-tooth module. For the robot chassis, we used 2 kg 0.8 mm metal sheet that can handle heavy loads.
- PCB design
Easy EDA: Easy EDA is a web-based EDA tool suite that enables hardware engineers to design, simulate, share - publicly and privately - and discuss schematics, simulations and printed circuit boards.
- Robot design
Creo 8.0: Creo is a family of Computer-aided design (CAD) apps supporting product design for discrete manufacturers and is developed by PTC.
- App design:
MIT app inventor: MIT App Inventor is a web application integrated development environment originally provided by Google, and now maintained by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It allows newcomers to computer programming to create application software(apps) for two operating systems (OS): Android, and iOS
Seed sowing mechanism: For the seed sowing we are using rack and pinion mechanism with the following parameters:
Rack length: 100mm
Rack width: 10mm
Gear diameter: 50.8mm
Gear teeth: 24
Gear width 15mm
At the end of the rack a cylinder is connected which has a cone shaped opening at one end. The cylinder opening will open with the help of servo motor when cylinder will enter into the ground.
Robot body: For the robot body we used 2kg metal sheet of 0.9mm.
Seed dropping mechanism: For the seed dropping we used 70x70x50 mm container which has a cavity at its center for the seed to enter into cylinder with the help of pipe. To allow 2-3 seeds at a time to pass through the pipe we used servo which will open and closed the openings of the pipe.
Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry AgricultureOther Industries Food Core Technology RoboticsOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Zero Hunger, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 28367 | |||
| Motors | Equipment | 4 | 650 | 2600 |
| Motor drivers | Equipment | 2 | 850 | 1700 |
| Battery | Equipment | 6 | 90 | 540 |
| Tyres | Equipment | 4 | 600 | 2400 |
| Rack and pinion | Equipment | 1 | 7000 | 7000 |
| Metal sheet | Equipment | 1 | 1000 | 1000 |
| Servo motor | Equipment | 1 | 290 | 290 |
| Micro-controller PCB | Equipment | 1 | 2067 | 2067 |
| PCB components | Equipment | 1 | 2840 | 2840 |
| Piston | Equipment | 1 | 2500 | 2500 |
| Bluetooth module | Equipment | 1 | 680 | 680 |
| Vero board | Equipment | 2 | 125 | 250 |
| Atmega328 | Equipment | 1 | 500 | 500 |
| Wires | Equipment | 1 | 100 | 100 |
| Welding | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1000 | 1000 |
| Drilling | Miscellaneous | 1 | 500 | 500 |
| Shipping cost | Miscellaneous | 4 | 300 | 1200 |
| Bolt | Equipment | 4 | 300 | 1200 |